Hot Research PM

AutoZone Rolling in Earnings Growth

AutoZone's fourth-quarter earnings per share increased 26.9% year-over-year, to $7.18 from $5.66, and exceeded our estimate of $6.65 and consensus of $6.97. The beat versus our estimate was driven by better-than-expected comps [same-store sales], gross margin, and a lower tax rate, as well as an increased number of share repurchases. Total sales increased 8.1% as comps increased 4.5% (versus our estimate of 3.0%) on top of a difficult 6.7% comp in...